AUTHOR'S NOTE: First, a few things must be cleared up. At the time I am writing this, this means I'll be working on FIVE stories at once. However, this doesn't bother me as much as it usually would, since I've decided to update some of my stories at least twice a week. Secondly, I understand that there have been a number of "tournament stories" in the Super Smash Bros. category, but this one should really be different. After all, the point is not so much the tournament as it is the mystery behind it all. And thirdly, Marth is going to be the protagonist of this story. Why is that? Because Marth's the best character in Melee, that's why!

So anyway, let it roll!

--

There are many worlds and many dimensions besides the one you live in. Some aren't so old, and soldiers fight with swords and shields. Others are advanced, with technology even greater than what you may think is so technologically complex. Others are pretty similar to yours, with strange creatures that make up the inhabitants.

There is also a final dimension. A very small one, but it exists. This is known as the Linking Dimension. It acts sort of as a crossroads for the boundaries of the other dimensions, so it's an easy matter to tap into their power and go from one world to the next. In this dimension lived a being known as Master Hand. A floating white hand, he had incredible power and knowledge. Using these, he created the Super Smash Bros. Academy, where fighters and warriors from all other dimensions can come together and train, fight, and make new friends.

It took a long time for this "academy" to become complete. The power abounding in the miniscule dimension had to be harnessed into a machine known simply as a Teleporter to transport fighters to and from other dimensions and to send out invitations to those who might accept them. Other technological wonders had to be completed, like the Fighting Polygons, sharp-edged machines that looked like glass but were as weak as paper. They could be programmed to take on the form of fighters that joined the academy. Later, these Fighting Polygons became more-advanced Fighting Wire Frames, and eventually, Alloys.

When it was all complete, Master Hand sent out invitations to twelve fighters via talking balls of red energy. These fighters accepted the invitations and came to the academy, where they were known as Super Smash Brothers. After a long time of fighting and training, they went back to their old dimensions. But even later, they again received these invitations, along with twelve other fighters.

The first twelve were Mario, Luigi, Link, Samus, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, Fox McCloud, Yoshi, Kirby, Ness, Capt. Falcon, and Jigglypuff. They were the Super Smash Brothers of the First Generation. Now, the Super Smash Brothers of the Second Generation were at the Super Smash Bros. Academy, or "Smash School," as they had grown to call it. This second set of twelve included Princess Peach, Princess Zelda, Bowser, the Ice Climbers (which technically were two people), Falco Lombardi, Mr. Game and Watch (a strange, completely black, 2D person who couldn't talk), Ganondorf, Mewtwo, Pichu, a younger form of Link, Marth, and Roy. This boosted the total of fighters up to twenty-four. More friends were made and more battles were fought.

Marth had heard this story quite often, and he still marveled at it. Still, he couldn't understand some of Master Hand's decisions. From what he had heard, Master Hand had invited some pretty nasty people to the fray. According to Mario, Luigi, and Peach, Bowser, the King of the Koopas, was actually an evil-minded creature who hated Mario and frequently kidnapped Peach. Why, then, would Master Hand bring them all together? And then there was the matter of Ganondorf. According to Zelda and both Links, Ganondorf was even more evil than Bowser, who was actually rather a klutz. They had all been at the academy for several weeks, and although nobody attempted anything along the lines of world domination--yet--Ganondorf's concern for no one was evident. Mewtwo was not evil, but he cold-shouldered everyone he met and seldom spoke to anybody.

The building they resided in was both huge and comfy. Every fighter had a room to themselves either on the second floor or below the first floor, twelve bedrooms on each floor. The rooms themselves were very big and had some very, very comfortable beds. The room could be decorated however they wanted (Marth could not bear to be in Peach's room longer than nine seconds). Marth's room was on the second floor, the last door on the left at the end of the hallway. Roy's room was right next to his; he came from the same dimension as Marth, so they became friends instantly.

The downstairs was very spacious. The lobby was a huge, elaborate room made of black stone that shined off of everything. The downstairs included a meeting room, where Master Hand would discuss important information with them, and a library, where books on just about everything existed. Not just fictional stories of this, that, and the other; history books about almost every dimension, included Marth's existed. Marth had spent many a good hour reading up on what he didn't know and still not learning enough.

Below the first floor were, of course, the second set of bedrooms and the Teleporter. The Teleporter could warp them to and from their dimensions if they wanted to visit their old worlds for a little bit. It also allowed them to battle in certain arenas, where whoever got knocked out of the invisible boundaries set by the Teleporter would lose a point, or a life, or coins--whatever they set the rules to. Also downstairs was an exit to a baseball field of sorts, where fighters could compete for the longest hit, and target test areas, where fighters could also compete on how quickly they could destroy all of the targets. Finally, they could compete to defeat the most Fighting Wire Frames. Occasionally, Master Hand would start "mini-tournaments," where whoever could defeat the most Wire Frames or smash Sandbag in the Home Run Contest farthest would get a prize.

A knock came on Marth's door. When Marth gave permission to come in, Roy peeked his head in.

"Hey, Roy."

"Hey, Marth," the red-head answered. "I was wondering if you were in the mood for a little fight. I just beat Link and Young Link recently, and I figured I was on a roll here, so if I could beat you, it's like I could be the strongest of the Four Swordsmen or something."

Marth grinned. The "Four Swordsmen" were Marth, Roy, Link, and Young Link. Not only did they fight together, but they had Swordsmans' Nights Out. Link had developed the idea after growing increasingly jealous of Peach, Zelda, and Samus's girls' nights out.

"Sure, just give me a few minutes," Marth answered. Roy nodded and left the room.

Marth didn't have a few minutes. The Meeting Signal went off; green lights in each of the rooms turned red and let off small beeping sounds. Marth sighed, got up off his bed, and left the room. He walked down the hallway, the other fighters emerging from their rooms as he walked by. He went down the staircase and turned left, the sounds of his boots echoing off the walls. He arrived at the large meeting room and found a few fighters already there. Master Hand, the giant white glove, was floating in front of them.

After just a few seconds, everybody was in the room. "Is everybody here?" Master Hand asked without a mouth. It was more of a rhetorical question, so he continued. "Good. I've been putting this off for awhile, but I've decided that now is the time." He paused; Marth imagined that if he had eyes, he would be scanning all of their faces. "It's time we had another tournament." Cheers went up from the crowd. Marth beamed; everybody loved tournaments. It wasn't just that they were fun; huge rewards were given to the winner, as well as elaborate trophies showing that they had won a tournament. "Not just any tournament. I've decided to create the Ultimate Tournament. During these battles, there will be no items." A few moans went up from the crowd. "Furthermore, everybody will use stock; one life." A double-whammy, then; most of the fighters liked long battles. Maybe this Ultimate Tournament wasn't going to be quite as interesting as they thought. "However," Master Hand continued, "the reward...will be one million Smash Coins."

Nobody said anything. They were expected the "Just kidding" any second. Smash Coins were the currency used in the Linking Dimension. The small Brown Coins were worth 1. The Silver Coins were worth 10, and the big Gold Coins were worth about 30. Those were the three Smash Coins more commonly used, but Grand Silver Coins, which were bigger and more elaborate, were worth 250, and Grand Gold Coins were worth 1,000. Fighters won Smash Coins in fights, tournaments, and competitions. In tournaments, the biggest reward anyone had ever gotten was 50,000 Smash Coins. But one million?

"You can say 'just kidding' now," Ness said.

"I am not kidding," Master Hand said, apparently happy his announcement had had the desired effect. "The winner of this tournament will win one million Smash Coins. As I said, it will be the Ultimate Tournament. And remember, that's a lot of money you can take home."

Master Hand could convert Smash Coins into the fighters' worlds' currency. So if Mario won, that would be a million coins. If Link won, it would be a million rupees. It was a lot of money.

"So, who wants to sign up?" Master Hand asked casually.

--

Naturally, all 24 fighters signed up. A million Smash Coins was just too good to pass up on. The first round of the tournament would take place just three days away. Everyone got to training immediately. Battles were asked for more often.

The first round would have all 24 fighters. The ones that won would move onto the second round, with 12 fighters. The third round would have 6. And finally, there would be a three-way battle in the final round. Marth didn't know who he was fighting against in the first round, but he wanted to make sure he was ready. He jumped onto the fight with Roy quickly. It turned out that Roy was way stronger than he thought and beat him--although it was almost a tie.

Everyone was sore by the end of the day. Every single fighter had taken on a challenge with somebody else. Most of them had fought more than once. Marth set his sword by his bed and fell asleep quickly.